The present invention relates, in general, to a separation process, and more particularly to a process of separating components of free-flowing material contained in a cotton-type, mat-like carrier. The present invention further relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process.
In manufacturing hygienic materials, such as diapers, incontinence products or the like, high-grade absorbent material employed for absorbing moisture and embedded in a carrier besides cellulose flakes. These kinds of series products are fabricated on a large scale so that certain quantities of waste are necessarily produced. In order to recover this waste material, the employed materials must be thoroughly screened. A precise separation of material components with defined properties is needed to ensure an exact apportioning without decrease in quality. Heretofore, this was not possible to a desired extent so that the waste material must be energetically disposed of and stored in waste dumps. In particular, when taking into account the enormous amounts of hygienic articles being made and the resultant absolute amounts of waste, recycling becomes of particular importance.
Attempts were made to dissolve the compacted cotton-type cellulose carrier with embedded absorbent material in a mechanical fashion, e.g. by means of tearing drums or cutting units, as to effect a separation between cellulose flakes and absorbent material. However, to date the attained degree of separation is poor and thus not viable in an economic sense. Moreover, the processes utilized so far are prone to mechanical failure, and, apart from the attained insufficient degree of separation of the flakes at varying concentration of absorbent material, are complex and uneconomical.